Wednesday, February 13, 2013

I mentioned in an earlier post that I took a trip to Ireland late last year. If you're lucky enough to have been to Ireland you know what a beautiful place it is. But even if you haven't visited you're probably aware of Ireland's rich history of folklore and storytelling. And it just so happens that on our trip, we created a few stories of our own.

I promised my mother I would write these down for her. I've been slacking on doing so. So, Mom: sorry this took so long! I hope I did justice to these fun anecdotes from our trip.

The Gruber Ghost of Adare

The cemetery is very old, and sits in a quiet little section of Adare away from the tourist destinations and shops. The church around which the graveyard sits has long since crumbled to ruins, and for years the place was overgrown with brush and greenery.

Only recently has the old cemetery been cleared – and that is, perhaps, how the Ghost escaped.

You wouldn't expect a German ghost in a small Irish cemetery. And though you'll hear many stories of how he came to be there, no one person can say for sure. All that is known is that on one grey, windy day, the tumbled tombstones inside the crumbled church were disturbed.

It was quiet enough at first that you could easily think you had imagined the sound, or that the wind had rattled something and caused the noise. But soon the quiet mutterings grew louder and there could be no mistake. Something was awake inside...

The clouds darkened, and the wind whipped, and a lonely face appeared between the stones of one long-fallen wall.

"I'm a long way from home," you might have heard him say, if you were close enough. (Or you might not. The voices of ghosts are soft and easily carried away on the breeze.) "How will I get out of here?"

And the Gruber Ghost began to climb. He tested each wall, until finally he found a very tiny opening that spilled out onto a very tiny path.

And the Gruber Ghost began to crawl, and to squeeze, and finally he tumbled to the ground.

And had you been there, you may have seen the clouds part just the slightest bit. You may have seen the sun break through for a few seconds between drizzles of rain. You may have felt the gusts calm to a quiet whisper of a breeze carrying a lost traveler home.